STOCKHOLM, Sweden -- The top aide to Sweden's Prime Minister Fredrik Reinfeldt resigned after a story about the aide spending time in a bar with a political reporter emerged.

State Secretary Ulrica Schenstrom resigned Wednesday after reports of her visiting a Stockholm bar with reporter Anders Pihlblad, including photos showing her apparently kissing the reporter, surfaced last week, The Local reported Thursday. Schenstrom and Pihlblad deny they are romantically involved.

In her letter to Reinfeldt, Schenstrom said she regretted "having a conversation with a journalist and drinking wine in that context."

Schenstrom said she "behaved inappropriately" and thought she no longer had the "necessary trust" needed to carry out her job.